How to Make Beeswax Candles

Beeswax Candles are a joy to see and to smell when you are burning a wonderful honey-scented beeswax. Its easy to learn how to make Beeswax Candles too, so the next time you find a great deal on beeswax, grab some and follow this tutorial.

How to Make Beeswax Candles

There is nothing like a good candle. It makes your home feel warmer, more inviting, and like a happy cozy place. Unfortunately, many times when we are burning candles in our room we are actually letting off a mixture of chemicals and toxins that don’t need to be in the air!

We’ve already mentioned a few options for clean burning candles here on Little House Living. Olive Oil Candles are fun to make and it gives you an excuse to use up that expired olive oil you left in the back of your pantry. And Soy Candles are another fun one. Today we are going to talk about how to make Beeswax Candles.

Ever since we moved into a much smaller space I haven’t been able to burn a candle. No matter what they are made out of, the smell gets too strong and overpowering too quickly and I have to blow it out. Regular candles are made with artificial scents which can be damaging to the health of those that are sensitive to chemicals, and even those that are not. Most of them also contain a lead based wick and chemicals within the wax that can upset how your body is supposed to function…not really the kind of thing I want to put in the air!

Beeswax Candles are ridiculously easy to make and take only a few things. When choosing your beeswax for candle making make sure that you choose a filtered beeswax. Unfiltered beeswax can still have pesticides and chemical residue left in them from how the bees were treated or from what they consumed. I buy my beeswax from Amazon or get it locally.

Now I know you can get those little metal things that clamp on the end of the wick to go in the bottom of the jar but I’m a cheapskate and those are expensive and I don’t like that they move around. Tape is easier 🙂 Put a piece of tape on one end. The other end of the wick should be taped to a pen or pencil that you don’t mind getting dirty.

Secure the tape at the bottom of the jar. Wrap the other end of the wick around the pen until you can set it on the rim of the jar. You want you wick to be pulled up straight so your candle can burn.

In a saucepan (I have one just for cooking up my weird concoctions!), melt the coconut oil and the beeswax together.

Constantly stir at a low heat until they are both melted and no pieces remain. You don’t need much heat to get either substance to melt. Just keep stirring.

Pour the mixture into the jar. Make sure that your wick stays as straight as possible and upright during this process.

Or you could totally make a big mess like I did, that’s cool too. As long as the majority of the mixture gets in the jar you are good.

After you let the candle sit for a while the mixture will firm and harden. After it’s done this you can trim the wick down to about a half an inch.

And that’s all it takes to make your own beeswax candles! So easy and they are ingredients that are easy to come by. Now that I have them on hand I can continually make candles as each one burns out! You can also add a small amount of essential oils to these candles if you really need a scent. Or you can try these Spiced Beeswax Candles. If you use a virgin coconut oil (like I did) your candle will have a faint coconut scent already.

Merissa

Reader Interactions

Comments

Hi Merissa! I’m a recent subscriber and love your site! I clicked on the link for the wicks and in the product description it says that the “wicks need to be primed with the wax of your choice prior to use.” Did you do that and what does it mean to prime a wick? Thanks!

Yes you can. I experimented with using different size PVC pipes as molds. Grease the pipe before adding wax so it will slide out after cooling. I used pure wax from a local beekeeper and I did have some problems with cracking. Would be interested in trying it with a mix of coconut oil to see if it does better. You have to experiment with different wick sizes. I used different thickness craft jute string and had fair success. I dip the string in hot wax first and let it cool to “season” the string.

Chandler here – the reason you must add the oil to beeswax is because it is a container candle (in a glass jar). 100% plain beeswax has a high melting point compared to container waxes and it is more commonly used to make pillar candles. Plain beeswax in a glass jar runs the risk of having to use a larger wick to get a full melt pool, which could potentially end up cracking or shattering your glass jar. Fire hazard.

if you know a local bee keeper they will often keep sheets of wax, these sheets of wax can be used to make a different style of candles called rolled candles which look stunning. these are easy to make and the beekeeper should be able to show you how to make it.

Have you actually burned these? Do they burn well? I attempted beeswax candle and it burned terrible! Mine was straight beeswax though and I think my wicks were the preprepped ones from Michaels? I love the smell of beeswax and coconut oil so I might try it again… hate wasting the wax though $ if it isn’t a nice burning candle. I actually scraped and reused the last batch.

You are so right about needing a thicker wick if you make a candle with only beeswax. In fact we did this and weren’t able to easily find a wick thick enough so back to the drawing board, at least that was the plan until I read your candle ingredients. THANK YOU! Our first candle burned slow and only melted a 1/4th inch in the center. It clearly failed to meet minimum requirements. Can’t wait to try adding coconut oil. Love your site. My husband is a naturalist and bee keeper and I’m a nurse. We like simple, old fashioned ways and identify with many of your ideals. Keep up the good work.

Have you burned both a solid beeswax and then one stretched with coconut oil to see how they are different? IE , burn pool, How hot the jar gets, the soot etc?
Im wondering if one is safer than the other while burning as far as how hot each one gets……like if adding the oil would make it safer….and have you had a chance to add essential oils yet? wondering if theres some essential oils that do better than others for burning 🙂

I haven’t burned solid beeswax because I don’t have thick enough wick right now, beeswax alone doesn’t seem to burn as well as far as I can tell though, it won’t burn the whole candle and needs a really thick wick since it burns so slowly. I’ve only added vanilla essential oil to make candles so far because I like that scent the best 🙂

Hi Merissa. New to your website. I was just scrolling down reading questions and answers and I came across this one where you talked about using Vanilla essential oil in your candles. I was told that, because Vanilla can’t be made into an actual oil, it is put in a carrier oil and is not recommended for candles. What do you use that you can put it in a candle? Vanilla is my favorite scent as well. Thanks!

Adding coconut oil to the beeswax does make it a bit safer. Using pure beeswax can shatter the glass jar you are pouring into, as it is very hot. Adding the coconut oil to the double boiler after the beeswax melts can cool it down significantly. 🙂

I was so excited to find this tutorial! And your entire blog for that matter. I had something weird happen while trying to melt the beeswax and coconut oil (I use Nutiva organic ev)…it started to melt, but then started hardening and getting chunky. Any idea what could have caused this?! I had ot on low heat and was stirring it. Very weird. I’m anxious to try it again and hope it works this time!

Hi – thanks so much for your easy candle making tips. I tried making a all beeswax candle the other night and the wick is wrong so it is burning very badly. I will remake with the addition of coconut oil, which I love and hope it will burn better. Most other instructions say to melt the wax in a double boiler, but I don’t think you do this, am I right? It takes a long time for the wax to melt in a double boiler and I’d prefer not to. Thanks again.

I’ve been making candles for years, and absolutely love it. It is so calming and soothing for me! Priming the wick helps the candle burn well. When the wax is melting, I take my wick and dip it into the melted wax and let it soak in the wax, then pull it out and lay it on waxed paper to cool, and while that’s going on, gently stretch it so it hardens nice and straight. I agree with the tip to only pour a 1/2 inch in the base of the jar (some even use a bit of double sided tape) to hold the wick centered, let cool, then top off the candle. Beeswax has a melt point of 147 so you need a thicker wick, and the diameter of the candle will also come into play there if you want the candle to burn all the way to the edge. It should smell like honey when you burn it if you don’t scent it.

A quick question….I am making my first beeswax candles and I am using glass jars. As my candles are cooling I am noticing that they are getting a ‘sinkhole’, for lack of a better term, in the center around the wick. Is this normal, or is there something I can do to prevent it? Thanks!

From everything I’ve read, its because the wax was too hot when you poured it in. I’ve read it should be between 120-165 F. Maybe give that a try. In Real Estate its location, location, location. In candle making, its temp, temp, temp. good luck

This was very helpful, thank you! I’ll most certainly be doing a post on my adventures in candlemaking if and when I get the project underway — thank you for helping me take the first steps! Well written too, exactly what I was looking for 🙂

Hi! I’m wondering if there are any downsides to raising the coconut to beeswax ratio; beeswax is hard to come by for a decent price in my area, and I’d like to make the amount that I have stretch as far as possible. Thanks!

I’m new to beewax candles. The triple filtered, organic wax I purchased has semi weird smell to it. I’ve never smelled beeswax before so I don’t know what its supposed to smell like. Are the raw and the lit wax supposed to smell different?

Does anybody know if I can add a little but of raw honey to the heated wax/coconut oil mix to get a sweeter smell when the candle is lit?

All beeswax will have a little bit of a different scent since all are made my different bees in different areas. My favorite wax is what I can get “fresh” from friends and local honey producers. The raw and lit will smell somewhat similar but lit should be a little sweeter if you add in the coconut oil of course. I’m not sure about the raw honey, I haven’t tried it yet.

Thanks for the reply. I made my first batch and theres actually no smell at all once lit. Even after 2-3 hours, a small room doesn’t even have any scent. Is that normal? Once I blow it out, and then bring my nose up to the hot wax I can smell something light. I did like 65% organic beeswax, and 40% vegetable shortening. I may have used too hot a temperature because one of my candles had a dip, hole and crack.

Yes, there will be very little scent with beeswax candles unless you find some sweet beeswax (which all depends on the supplier). Also, I have not made my candles with vegetable shortening, only coconut oil which helps add a little scent as well.

Go to your local churches that us fifty-one percent or 100-percent beeswax candles for liturgical purposes and ask for the remnants that are left over after they burn down so far. For Chuck, try locating a co. that sells clear plastic tubing with a thin wall and diameters from three-quarters, one and one eight, one and one quarter, one and one half, etc. Take your tubing to a hardware store and get PVC flat or oval shaped caps to put on one end. If loose, glue layers of card stock with duct tape to thicken the end to fit snugly for the PVC cap. Good Luck Quentin

Info followup: Wicks unlimited div. of The Stimson company.
Atkins and Pierce candle wicks, paper core, zinc core, cotton core, Lead core is no longer used in candle mfg. by law. Please forward Email to Chuck for further info. re: tube candle making using beeswax. I ran out of room with my first Email. Thanks

For tube candles, do not use additives. straight beeswax and proper wick (Square braided ) consult with personnel of wick companies and they can direct you to the proper size of wick depending on the thickness of tube candle you are making. Ask about Poly core wick from Wicks unlimited, try to speak with Tom. Mention my name to him I buy all my wick from him.

I’m new at candle making and I see many blogs saying you have to use a certain size wick depending on the measurements of your jar. I’m making a beeswax and coconut oil candle. I read mixing coconut oil helps with how it burns. My jar is an 8 oz jar and the width is 4″ and the height is 3.1″. What size wick should I use? I’d appreciate any help.

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Welcome to Little House Living! My name is Merissa and it’s nice to meet you! Here you can learn how to make the most with what you have. Whether that’s learning how to cook from scratch, checking out creative ways to save money, and learn how to live simply. I’m glad you’ve found your way here. Make sure to keep in touch by contacting me with questions and signing up for our newsletters.